Page 6 of Obsession on Repeat (Vinyl Hearts #1)

TWO DAYS LATER

My phone was vibrating before I opened my eyes. I groaned, dragging it out from under the pillow, half-blind as the screen lit up with a flood of notifications—texts, missed calls, social mentions. My heart dropped at the text message from Alice.

You need to check the news. Now.

I opened the browser with shaky fingers, already knowing it wouldn’t be good.

There was a photo of me leaving Venom the night before, face partially obscured by my hoodie, eyes down. Below it was a worse photo from the beach. His hand on my shoulder. My face tilted toward his .

Once something private. Intimate. Now, public property.

Sullivan Masters’ Secret Fling: Mystery DJ Exposed.

A quote followed, pulled from ‘an anonymous source close to the situation’: "She’s a girl he met in Sydney. It wasn’t serious. He’s headed back to LA."

I hadn’t spoken to anyone. He hadn’t called.

I barely finished reading the article before I was throwing on yesterday’s jeans and pulling my hoodie over my head. I grabbed my keys, calling Alice, as I exited my apartment.

"Rory?"

"Do you know who leaked it? Was it someone at the club?"

Silence.

"Alice?"

"One of the bouncers told me the paps got an anonymous tip. Said they were ‘invited’ to scope out Venom." She hesitated. "Do you think it was Sullivan? That he did it for publicity?"

I swallowed hard at the thought of such betrayal. My throat burned .

"I don’t want to think that about him," she continued. "But it lines up. He disappears on you, things blow up, and suddenly your photo is everywhere."

"I need to hear him say it wasn’t him."

"Rory—"

I hung up. A text and a phone call to his number went unanswered.

It didn’t take long for me to locate where he was staying during his promotional tour. I was halfway down the block from the hotel, heart pounding and half-ready to scream, when a black SUV pulled up beside the curb. The passenger window rolled down.

"Rory Jones?"

I stopped walking.

The man behind the wheel wore expensive sunglasses and a perfect suit. He looked like someone who closed a lot of doors behind him before people realized they were trapped.

"I’m Eric." Like I should know who he was. "Sullivan’s manager."

"Good for you."

"We need to talk."

"I don’t think we do."

Sighing, he stepped out of the car, calm and practiced. He'd probably done this before with countless other women, other headlines, other messes. "He didn’t leak anything, but you and I both know that doesn’t matter. The story’s already out. The question now is what you want to do with it."

I narrowed my eyes. "What I want?"

"You’re not stupid. You’ve seen how fast this spreads. We can either control the narrative, or let it eat you alive. I can help you. Interviews, a quote here or there, some soft press to paint you as the cool, edgy underground artist who caught his attention."

"You think I care about the narrative?"

He didn’t blink. "You should. Because once they’ve decided what you are, it’s hard to rewrite it."

I shook my head. "You want me to brand my life so it’s easier for you to sell him."

"I want to protect him, and, by extension, you."

"No, you want to protect the version of him the public wants to see, one that makes you the most money. That doesn't include me."

I walked away.

I don’t know how long I sat in Venom’s back office, legs pulled to my chest, arms wrapped around them praying I could fold myself small enough to disappear.

There had been a storm of paparazzi, so many surrounding the entrance that it had taken two bouncers and a barrage of Danny’s threats to get through the door.

After an explosion of texts and social media alerts, I turned off my phone. Even now, it was lost in the depths of my bag, completely ignored.

The door creaked open behind me. I froze, back straightening. "If you’re here to offer me a publicity package, I swear—"

"It’s me." Sullivan stood in the doorway, hat pulled low, hoodie half-zipped. He looked nothing like the guy on the beach or the man on the magazine cover. "Eric told me what he said to you."

"How? Did he text you? ‘Hey, I offered to turn your emotional disaster into free PR. Any thoughts?’"

He flinched, but didn’t look away. "He shouldn’t have come to you. That wasn’t okay."

"Yeah, well," I muttered, "neither was disappearing."

"I didn’t disappear. I stepped back. You were panicking. I didn’t want to make it worse."

"You made it worse anyway."

"I know." Sullivan stopped a few feet from me. "I didn’t leak anything. I didn’t sell you out, and I sure as hell didn’t send my manager to turn you into clickbait. I told him to protect you, not package you. "

I stared at him, pulse hammering. "You could’ve told me that you were trying to fix it."

"You wouldn’t have listened." He stepped closer. "I didn’t plan for any of this to happen. I didn’t expect to meet someone like you, but here we are. I’m not going to let some headline rewrite what this could turn out to be for us."

I watched him, unsure if I wanted to yell at him or lean into him. Maybe a little of both. "I don’t trust easily. You already know that. I’m not great at… this."

"You don’t have to be great at it. You just have to let it be real."

I exhaled, the fight draining out of me. "I didn’t want to care about you."

He smiled, the expression soft and a little sad. "I know." He reached for me, slow and deliberate, giving me the chance to stop him.

I didn’t.

"You’re driving me crazy, pushing me away, and I’m not letting you anymore."

His arms wrapped around me, and I folded into him.

He kissed me like he was afraid I’d disappear.

My hands collided with his, and somehow through our daze, we managed to discard our shirts onto the floor.

I smiled into the next kiss, squealing as he gathered me into his arms and strode into my bedroom.

He tossed me on the bed, and I scrambled back all elbows and feet, watching him struggle with the belt of his jeans.

"Here. Let me." I slid forward to grab the buckle, forcefully unzipping his jeans, and yanking the fabric past his hips.

He knocked my hands away, shoving me lightly, so he could cover my body with his on the bed. We kissed again, and I shivered at the feeling of his hands sliding up my bare stomach to cup my breasts. I wrapped my legs around his waist and rolled my hips.

"Be patient." He dipped his head to kiss my collarbone, trailing wetness down my chest. "Damn, be patient, Rory."

"Screw patience." I slipped my hand under the hemline of his boxers to cup him, and he jerked his hips in response, swearing into the silence of the room.

"Minx." He broke away to smile down at me and pressed his hips against mine. He chuckled as I groaned at the feeling of his length against my thigh. "You enjoy being a tease?"

"Like you don’t." I wrapped my fingers around him, moving my hand slowly up and down his length. "You act so innocent, but you don’t fool me." I raised my head to hover my lips beside his ear. "Fuck me."

He rolled off slightly, and I followed, moving to unsnap my bra and toss it to the floor. My next move to assist him with his boxers was halted by his hands, his hot gaze lingering on the sight of my naked breasts.

"What is it?"

"You’re so beautiful."

I blushed. "Sullivan…"

"No." He wrapped his fingers around my wrists and pressed them to the bed beside my head. "Let me … Fuck, let me look."

I wiggled under his gaze, a look of awe crossing his features. "Come on, you’re too old to be seeing this for the first time."

He snorted, smile deepening. "No, I’ve seen breasts before, but…" He swallowed, and I froze as he bent his head, his lips brushing against my already rock-hard nipples.

"Sullivan!"

His answer was nonverbal, his tongue slipping out to slide across one nipple, and I cried out, my legs tightening around his waist. He ignored me, taking the nipple into his mouth and lavishing it with careful attention.

I squeezed my eyes shut at the shot of heat that roared through me, words pouring from my mouth that made absolutely no sense .

"Please." As if answering my prayer, he lifted his hips. My hands quickly yanked down his boxers, tossing them to the side before finding my own panties and jerking them down my legs.

Skin to skin, we rolled back onto the bed. My move to grab him again was stopped, my wide gaze meeting his. He kept our eyes locked as he crawled slowly down my body, kissing every inch of skin.

"What are…"

He placed his hands underneath the back of my thighs, pressing my legs upwards, so I had no choice but to lay my feet flat on the bed, my knees bent. My words were lost when I felt his warmth breath span my wet lips, my need already soaking me to the point I felt it drip down my thighs.

The cry that came pouring from my mouth could have woken the dead. He kept me trapped against the bed, his lips and teeth teasing me to the point I lost all concept of time. I pressed my hand against my mouth, biting down on the skin between my thumb and index as he dipped his tongue into my heat.

My hips jerked as he sped up the pace of his tongue, nibbling as he sucked, and I sobbed at the speed of which my orgasm exploded.

He crawled back up my body, kissing my collarbone before placing his lips over mine.

I kissed him deeply, tasting myself on his lips and tongue, and it only aroused me more, combined with the feeling of his length bumping against me ready and hard.

"Please, Sullivan."

His gaze echoed my eagerness. "Wait." He slid from me to grab his jeans.

I fell back against the sheets, my breath finally returning. I turned my head to watch as he extracted a condom from his wallet. "Do you keep those in bulk?"

"Shush," he blushed. "You’re ruining the moment."

Laughing, I reached forward to grab the foil packet, tearing into it easily. "Let me make it up to you."

The muscle in his jaw jumped as I rolled the condom over him then slid back, motioning him forward with the flick of my index finger. His body moved over mine again, and for a split second, we paused, our gazes connecting.

"Are you okay?"

I felt my breath catch at the words. "I’m more than okay."

He grinned, the action lighting up his face.

He swooped down to capture my lips. The kiss mixed with his words melted me, and I threw my arms around his neck.

Fumbling around, he wrapped a firm hand around the base of his dick and slid the head against my wet slit.

I licked my lips, throwing my head back with a sigh as he pushed slowly inside of me .

He shifted his hands on either side of my head, his eyes watching me carefully for any sign of discomfort as he began to push inch by inch.

I scraped my nails down his back, urging him into motion with my hips and teasing bites from my teeth against his neck. "Please."

At my plea, he finally moved, pulling all the way back out before thrusting again, the pace slow and torturous. I squealed in surprise when he suddenly rolled us into a sitting position.

He kissed my mouth softly. "Still good?"

I nodded, moving up and down his length and smiled as he groaned in response. "Please…" I threw my head back when he lifted his hips to meet mine.

He bit down on my collarbone, the pace increased, and I sighed at the feeling of his sweaty body meeting my own.

I couldn’t help but run my nails down his back again, this time harder, and as he thrust into me again, his right hand found my hair, jerking my head back.

His name spilled from my lips at the same time as my orgasm erupted, and I had to cling to him as my body shook from the force.

His grip remained firm on my hair, Sullivan pressing his face into the crook of my neck.

Two thrusts later, he followed me into the abyss.

I collapsed against him, and the motion sent us tumbling back onto the bed, my body falling onto his. I rested on top of him, my chest heaving .

"Was that okay?" His voice was deep and laced with the beginnings of sleep.

I kissed the side of his face before nuzzling his neck with my nose. "It was perfect."